U.S. Innovator Exports Cooling Tower Technology Worldwide

The advantages of using HDPE-based (high-density polyethylene) “plastic” cooling towers have been well received throughout commercial and industrial sectors of the U.S. for a number of years. Now the company responsible for developing this cost-and-downtime saving technology has ramped up efforts to market it internationally with installations at two projects in the Middle East.

In recent months, HDPE cooling towers manufactured in the U.S. by Delta Cooling Towers have been integrated into an advanced, solar-powered cooling project underway in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as a water treatment project in Jenadriyah, the heritage and cultural city located in the Riyadh province of Saudi Arabia.

Cooling with the desert sun

The Abu Dhabi project is the pilot program designed to bring rooftop air conditioning to the city’s Transmission & Despatch Company (TRANSCO) via concentrated solar panels that will provide clean renewable solar energy to the building’s air-conditioning system during peak demand hours.

“Essentially, the project is using solar power to produce cold water that is used to provide air conditioning,” explains Mohammad Alkarmi, CEO of Limitless International Corp., the exporting organization that sold the advanced plastic cooling towers to the project’s management.

The MCT-based system, which is designed specifically for rooftop application and operation in high temperatures and dusty conditions, provides hot water to the absorption chillers, and from the absorption chiller they get cold water to their chilled water system. The benefits of the system include significant energy savings with great potential for peak shaving, which will result in reduced emissions and better grid efficiency.

Assisting in water treatment

Limitless International also recently supplied a new HDPE cooling tower to a reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plant in Jenadriyah, Saudi Arabia.

Cooling towers can be an important element in water and wastewater treatment applications because microorganisms used in the treatment process can be compromised when water temperatures get too warm. Cooling towers are a viable alternative to cooling water in tanks and ponds, which may be unavailable in dry climates.

“This project was an upgrade that called for the replacement of the Delta cooling tower that was originally installed in this plant many years ago,” says Alkarmi. “So, when they decided to upgrade the RO plant recently, they specified a new HDPE cooling tower for the project.”

He explains that the overall motivation of the customer was the same as with the solar application: long-term reliable performance, reduced maintenance costs, and an economical purchase price.